July 27, 2009

The Covers of Frankenstein : Belgian Pocket Book, 1946


I first saw this cover on the excellent picture blog, The Sweetest Psychopath, and I went digging for information. Turns out this is a French-language pocketbook published by Le Scribe of Brussels in 1946.

Note the author’s name, given as Ann Mary Shelley. The confusion persists on the book’s title page, where Mary is identified as May W. Shelley. The translator’s name is given as Henry Langon, assuming they got that one right. The cover artist escapes misidentification, he is not credited.

The fine, stark, two-color illustration is well composed, with a stonework arch mirroring The Monster’s curved back. As often happens, the iconography is inspired by movie themes instead of the book’s actual content, here with stormy skies, a castle in silhouette behind the title, and The Monster with neck bolts and a box head with forehead scar.


10 comments:

Mykal Banta said...

Wow. Talk about powerful. I love it. -- Mykal

Mykal Banta said...

PS: Love the new banner. Very beautiful.

Pierre Fournier said...

Thanks, Mykal.

The Sweetest Psychopath said...

I was searching for new vintage covers today and came upon your wonderful blog here.... Wow !!!
Thanks for calling my tumblr
an excellent picture blog. I found this cover on deadlicious.com, and have gone back to my post of this cover and given proper credit.
I would love to post some of your pictures, with a direct link here.
Thanks again
-d
who are you on tumblr ???

rob! said...

Beautiful cover, like its lit by the sulphur pit from Son of Frankenstein.

Pierre Fournier said...

Nicely said, Rob.

Psycho:On tumblr, I run MONSTER CRAZY. There's a link here on the right hand menu.

Doc Atomic said...

I collect vintage science fiction paperbacks and while I tend to avoid foreign books (gotta stay focused!) I think I need to track this one down. It's just a great, powerfully rendered cover.

Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!

Anonymous said...

Hi, i have the same book but it is in Dutch lanquage translated into Dutch by Mevrouw Spruit, same cover, also Le Scribe Brussel 1946. Must be published at the same time.
Hillebrand

Pierre Fournier said...

Thank you for that information, Hillebrand.

Buy Generic Viagra said...

Awesome cover indeed, it is a great book by the way, I read it a few years ago.